Why religion is the lazy coward’s way

Summary: Religion is to science what snacking and TV-addiction is to exercise and deep work; a little bit like how technical analysis relates to fundamental analysis in investing.

Disclaimer: Before bashing on religion you should always ask what kind it is, i.e., exactly what the believer actually believes. When I’m talking about religion, I mean the existence of a personalized God that can and will communicate with people, governs some kind of extra-material realm, as well as can break or change the natural laws. All of that is of course complete bunk.

Religion is lazy, indulgent, and intellectually cowardly.

A scientist has to work much harder at uncovering the true nature of reality.

It takes centuries of missteps and breakthroughs, of courageous individuals and diligent teams challenging and building on each other’s findings, to chip away at the big marble block of nature, piece by piece revealing what’s beneath.

In contrast, any child can succumb to an overactive amygdala, and assume agency in every occurrence. God is a childish invention, where the familiarity of grown-ups controlling and creating the child’s world spills over into adulthood, infecting the mind with shortcut solutions to complex problems.

It’s the snack eating, TV-couch dwelling, dopamine addict personality that turns to God for a quick fix; whereas the curious and diligent homeostasis breaker works hard and deeply, knowing that the satisfaction from accomplishment beats any short term sugar rush.

You can tell your bible touting friend the next time you see him, that he’s nothing but a feeble-minded, childish addict that’s too lazy or too scared to try to understand the true nature of reality.

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17 Comments

I’m surprised that a scientific person’s understanding of religion is as close-minded and uninformed as a fanatic religious person’s beliefs about science. Open you mind and try to understand the other side on a deeper level before you dismiss it entirely! There are great Christian and spiritual thinkers, just as there are great scientists and philosophers.

jesus christ, calm the fuck down bro; you would not be living in this society if it wasn’t for religion which helps the masses to have a sense of morality & ever present thoughts of an all seeing eye.
No wander you don’t have a girlfriend or kids.
Instead of drinking your oil capsules for your brain, try some chill pills; at the end of the day no one cares, believe what they want to. You just show yourself as an ignoramus when you publish stupid subjective shit like this.

He makes a good point about the “masses” needing religion as a moral compass and punishment threat for bad behavior. However, I believe humans will never be fully civilized until religion is crushed and forgotten. It makes them too susceptible to manipulation by authority figures.

I see too many cases where scientists are stuck in poorly reasoned or obsolete beliefs. Religious thinking is too common in science and every other field.

The historical claims of some mystics, or gnostics, record a deep understanding of reality not available to the usual man. And, like the claims of quantum physicists, the usual man (like me) does not have the knowledge or tools required to verify whether or not those claims are true.
Perhaps another way to look at this is that religion (or spirituality), like science, requires deep focus to master. Regardless of the veracity of any particular claims, there have been individuals who have devoted their entire lives to mastering each of these pursuits, and have made great sacrifices to do so. Also, maybe some people are born with a particular talent for each endeavor that, combined with hard work, produces extraordinary results.
I think we are probably agreed though that there are too many people running around making claims in both fields without knowing what the hell they are talking about because they don’t have the talent or discipline to master those fields. And they indulge in magical thinking.

I agree about the religious part, it’s a quick fix and I actually envy those who can stick to fairytales. But I don’t believe this has anything to do with dopamine-addiction, I actually think that dopamine kick-searching is what drives many scientists and intellectual people’s searching and work. I call it accomplishment junkies and information junkies, you know the people who can’t put aside a project or can’t stop searching for an answer, the ones who works 16 hours per day for a goal greater than money. I also think it’s unfair for the open mind of a child to be compared to a religious, the mind of a child is evolving and critical but in the same time open and borderless, not like the static mind of a person who has got stuck in a believing. I’m procrastinating right now and should get back to my bachelor thesis… have a nice evening!

Well put Jesseca. I agree.
Also the religious aspects are so integrated with culture and upbringing so even if people actually agree with the original post they might instinctively respond defensively as it can be perceived to attack their past (foundation)

Cool and deep comment. Thank you for that. I agree on both the dopamine and child comments. However, what I meant was the quick fix part, the sugar addiction parallel, not the kick searching per se. As for the child’s mind comparison, my focus was on the immaturity and lack of self-control, not the open and borderless. I think we’re on the same page really.

This person is speaking the truth. God is just a lazy way of understanding the world. It’s saying I don’t believe I can understand the world around me so I’m going to give it over to a higher power to understand for me. God is the bane of human intellectualism and ingenuity. It’s similar to never exploring more than 10 miles from the place you were born.

I totally agree. However, I would also add that religion serves as a conduit for control freaks, which is in and of itself another whole psyche. Some of them find solace in leading others into their belief systems, thus affirming their fate based on fear. Whereas others are simply feeding their egos, which is the height of pride and hypocrisy.